The Forgotten Women of the Bauhaus: Art, Design, and Legacy

[00:00:03]The founding of the famous Bauhaus design school was a milestone of the modernist period, one that sought to leave the old world behind and embrace a new era.

[00:00:13]The aim was not only to create innovative designs and groundbreaking architecture, but also to construct a radically new society.

[00:00:22]To this day, Bauhaus is associated with names like Walter Gropius, Johannes Itten, Paul Klee, and Oskar Schlemmer.

[00:00:30]But often overlooked are the many women who played a major role and who strongly influenced the world-famous Bauhaus style.

[00:00:42]The history of the Bauhaus as we know it is incorrect.

[00:00:46]When you include the women, it becomes a more complete and far more interesting picture.

[00:00:55]The promise of absolute equality attracted many women to the Bauhaus.

[00:00:59]Almost 500 female artists studied at the legendary school, making groundbreaking contributions.

[00:01:06]Yet to this day, they remain in the shadow of their male counterparts.

[00:01:13]There’s this ‘genius myth’ that says only men can be artistically brilliant, while women are diligent and empathetic, and all that stuff.

[00:01:21]We still see these prejudices today.

[00:01:23]Unfortunately, not much has changed.

[00:01:27]The Bauhaus sought profound change.

[00:01:29]They wanted to break with old traditions and change the world, and yet the school failed badly when it came to equality of the sexes.

[00:01:44]They’re these very modern artists, but in their worldview, including when it came to women, they were not enlightened at all.

[00:01:52]Of course, it was also a hundred years ago.

[00:01:57]What the Bauhaus women created has significantly shaped our ideas of design today.

[00:02:03]It was through them that Bauhaus conquered the design world of the 20th century.

[00:02:08]They included women like Alma Buscher, who created prototypes of avant-garde furniture and toys.

[00:02:16]Or the visionary metalsmith and designer Marianne Brandt, whose works are counted among the icons of Bauhaus design.

[00:02:24]Gunta Stölzl’s weaving revolutionized modern textile design.

[00:02:29]Friedl Dicker was a multi-talented artist who dedicated herself to Bauhaus until her tragic death in 1944.

[00:02:38]And it’s Lucia Moholy's exceptional photographs that still influence how we view Bauhaus design today.

[00:02:47]It's time to finally tell their stories.

[00:02:50]Because, as women and as artists, they are role models.

[00:02:54]Bold and inspiring pioneers of modernity.

[00:03:09]The Bauhaus school was founded in the German city of Weimar in 1919.

[00:03:14]With its radically new vision of art and craftsmanship, it attracted many young people to the region.

[00:03:21]Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius promised absolute gender equality, and more women than men signed up to study at the art school.

[00:03:33]Gropius was a true visionary and made utopian statements that something new was being built there, something that everyone could take part in.

[00:03:44]I believe that spoke to these young women because the old dusty art academies weren't for these modern women.

[00:03:56]That spirit of change was felt not just at the Bauhaus, but all over the country.

[00:04:01]In 1918, a war-weary Germany experienced a radical new beginning with the proclamation of the Republic.

[00:04:09]Women got the vote and entered parliament.

[00:04:18]With the introduction of women's suffrage, something changed in societal attitudes.

[00:04:22]Women suddenly became more visible in public, more visible in life.

[00:04:27]Self-determination was in the air and women flocked to the new work opportunities that had opened up, especially in the cities.

[00:04:39]This new woman was the hallmark of the 1920s.

[00:04:42]There were women with bobbed hair, there were short skirts and dresses, and women felt they could really do something.

[00:04:50]If they had a dream, they could fulfill it, and that’s what characterized this time.

[00:04:58]In Berlin, an entire generation embraced a new hedonistic lifestyle, and women demanded their right to the public arena.

[00:05:10]Of course, in Berlin, you could find women who defined themselves in this way.

[00:05:13]This transformation when it came to gender was happening.

[00:05:17]Of course, it depended on where you lived; in the countryside, the new woman might have only existed in the media.

[00:05:26]The revolutionary Bauhaus school was founded in sleepy Weimar, of all places.

[00:05:31]Here, the structures of the old German Empire could still be found, and studying at the Bauhaus school was both a new beginning and an act of rebellion.

[00:05:43]A young person's decision to go to the Bauhaus deviated significantly from a traditional path because it provided an environment where a different way of living was possible – including a different way of relating to the opposite sex.

[00:05:59]The art school promised both a creative awakening and an entirely new way of living.

[00:06:04]Many young talents, as well as established female artists, embarked on a completely new start at the school.

[00:06:10]One such artist was Gunta Stölzl.

[00:06:14]At 22, she broke off her applied arts studies in Munich and joined the Bauhaus.

[00:06:19]After her experiences working as a Red Cross nurse in World War I, Stölzl wanted to take part in building a new, better society.

[00:06:27]In October 1919, she wrote in her diary: I’ve dreamt about this so many times and now it’s come true.

[00:06:36]A new life begins; on the first evening, Gropius spoke very seriously.

[00:06:43]We are facing a void that must be filled, and every person counts.

[00:06:53]I think she was very happy in Weimar.

[00:06:57]She always said her time there was unforgettable, and that she belonged to the ‘primordial mud’ of the Bauhaus.

[00:07:06]What she probably enjoyed the most was the freedom she had there.

[00:07:12]She had found like-minded people with artistic ambitions and they were building a new world.

[00:07:23]And to be part of that as a woman - the world suddenly became much bigger for her.

[00:07:29]But life at the Bauhaus did have its rules: Like skinny-dipping in the River Ilm, spiritual breathing exercises in the park, and debauched costume parties — the Bauhaus way of life was an affront to conservative Weimar.

[00:07:44]Their lifestyle was decidedly anti-bourgeois; for example, couples didn't have to get married.

[00:07:50]There were these parties, and, of course, they drank, but it wasn't the wild parties with drugs and alcohol that one might think of.

[00:07:57]They expressed themselves mainly sexually.

[00:08:00]I think when their lifestyle is described as ‘wild, ’ that’s what’s meant.

[00:08:05]That they were very open sexually.

[00:08:14]Despite the euphoria of a new beginning, the living and working conditions were very hard at the school; everyday life in post-war Germany was a challenge, and so was life at the Bauhaus.

[00:08:30]The beginning of the Bauhaus in Weimar was tough.

[00:08:33]The students sat on bare concrete floors and had few materials.

[00:08:37]They had very little to eat and went hungry.

[00:08:39]Walter Gropius introduced a canteen.

[00:08:43]The students tried, whenever they could, to get potatoes in, something to eat.

[00:08:48]She'd tell us that sometimes after eating in the canteen, they were still hungry.

[00:08:56]They weren’t satisfied, so they would push the chairs and tables aside and dance away their hunger.

[00:09:09]Among the financially strapped pioneering students was Friedl Dicker.

[00:09:14]In 1919, she wrote: Weimar has no money, and we won't get rich either, but we don’t need it.

[00:09:22]Otherwise, there’s little to say about Weimar.

[00:09:26]I hope the Bauhaus sees many positive changes; they’re needed.

[00:09:33]At the age of 21, Friedl Dicker followed the legendary art educator Johannes Itten from Vienna to Weimar.

[00:09:40]Dicker was a highly gifted and daring designer.

[00:09:43]For her, Bauhaus was a place of unlimited experimentation.

[00:09:47]ENGLISH++ She was an incredibly talented personality in all areas you can imagine.

[00:09:56]She experimented with various materials, created sculptures, and realized graphics.

[00:10:04]She tried everything.

[00:10:07]In just 10 minutes, she could draw 100 sketches.

[00:10:12]She drew a cat and didn’t like the sketch, so she just crumpled it up and threw it in the trash.

[00:10:18]Everyone who sees this cat drawing says it's a wonderful sketch made with just a few strokes.

[00:10:23]Friedl Dicker was both uncompromising and bursting with creativity.

[00:10:31]A prolific creator, she mastered a wide variety of disciplines, including graphics, product design, costume design, and painting.

[00:10:40]Walter Gropius himself praised her work as the very best at the institute.

[00:10:45]Friedl Dicker could be called an all-round artistic talent.

[00:10:51]Everything she touched somehow became a form; everything she did, an expression.

[00:10:56]Friedl Dicker was undoubtedly an outstanding talent.

[00:11:03]But soon, the female talent at the school became too much for the men in charge.

[00:11:09]Gropius had not reckoned with such an influx of women, and in 1920 he backtracked.

[00:11:16]The reason he gave was that women were simply not suitable for heavy craftsmanship.

[00:11:21]He recommended no more unnecessary experiments.

[00:11:26]The so-called female element would no longer occupy more than a third of the student body.

[00:11:33]Many female artists felt slighted.

[00:11:39]It was said that art is a talent, and women didn't have it.

[00:11:44]To Paul Klee, art had to do with genius, which women didn’t possess.

[00:11:48]When it came to fine art, he didn’t recognize women.

[00:11:51]Wassily Kandinsky felt the same.

[00:11:55]It was a man's business, to do with the intellect, and women’s business was only about motherhood.

[00:12:02]The promise of equal rights in work was broken by the argument that women can’t see in three dimensions and work better with flat surfaces.

[00:12:12]The women students were thus relegated to the textile workshop.

[00:12:16]The Bauhaus masters' ideas surrounding gender revealed them as being less than progressive.

[00:12:23]The motivation behind sexism is usually not a real motivation, it’s often just stereotypes, like the idea that when women do jobs to which they are not suited, they might end up destroying things.

[00:12:37]Instead, women should just do what they already know, like weaving.

[00:12:45]Women who came to the Bauhaus with the dream of becoming architects, painters, and sculptors suddenly found themselves relegated to the loom, and to a skill considered not an art but a handicraft.

[00:12:58]Walter Gropius feared that the high percentage of women would give the impression that the Bauhaus was not a serious art academy, precisely because there were so many women involved.

[00:13:12]Gropius wanted his new project to succeed, and he was a realist, I think, and knew that if the school was associated with having many female students, the public might not take it seriously.

[00:13:32]Relegated to the so-called ‘women's class’, the female artists turned the unloved craft of weaving into their own art form.

[00:13:43]My mother wrote that they felt like they were discovering the craft of weaving anew.

[00:13:49]They didn't want to be taught something based on old traditions, little patterns, this and that; that didn't interest them.

[00:13:58]Doing things their way, they discovered new types of textiles.

[00:14:04]The women used the famous forms and color theories of Bauhaus in their textile art.

[00:14:09]In bold color experiments, radically new forms were created using hand-dyed yarns combined in highly complex weaving techniques.

[00:14:18]The artists used their fabrics like painting canvases.

[00:14:24]The fabrics created were enormously successful.

[00:14:29]The women really revolutionized textile design.

[00:14:33]There was no more talk of it simply being a pastime, as Bauhaus master Oskar Schlemmer had dismissed it.

[00:14:42]In the entire history of the Bauhaus, the textile workshop was undoubtedly one of the most successful studios.

[00:14:48]They made the most money, they sold a lot, exhibited a lot, and produced a lot, but all that was not well-received.

[00:14:57]The class was always mentioned last because they didn’t want the textile workshop to become the showcase of the institution.

[00:15:04]15.06 Few female artists succeeded in realizing their full potential outside the women's class.

[00:15:14]The multi-talented Friedl Dicker refused to be tied to a single workshop.

[00:15:19]She enjoyed an exceptionally high level of freedom at the institution.

[00:15:23]Dicker even conquered the men's workshops.

[00:15:30]In 1922, Friedl Dicker was the first Bauhaus student to design a house with a flat roof.

[00:15:36]She was truly a pioneer in so many things she did, it’s impossible to list them all.

[00:15:41]The Bauhaus was soon too small for Friedl Dicker.

[00:15:53]Following projects in Dresden, Berlin, and Vienna, Dicker founded an architecture studio in Vienna along with Franz Singer where she designed Bauhaus architecture and furniture for a wealthy clientele.

[00:16:06]Anyone who followed trends had a piece from Singer-Dicker in their home.

[00:16:15]They were the fashionable designers.

[00:16:21]Meanwhile, in Weimar, more and more female students were revolting against being exiled to the textile workshop.

[00:16:28]One of them was Alma Buscher.

[00:16:30]The twenty-three-year-old had studied art in Berlin and came to the Bauhaus in 1922.

[00:16:35]Despite her enormous talent as a sculptor of wood, she too was sent to the weaving workshop.

[00:16:41]The young woman resisted and wrote a letter to Gropius: At the Bauhaus, it is no longer usual to admit female students to workshops other than weaving.

[00:16:53]I have never had any connection with thread.

[00:16:56]I request to be excused from the weaving workshop because my doctor has prohibited me from weaving.

[00:17:02]Alma Buscher got lucky.

[00:17:08]She was allowed to go into sculpture because the Bauhaus was planning an exhibition in 1923 and wanted to show the public, the state and the Ministry of Finance that they were creating something new.

[00:17:22]So Walter Gropius needed something to present.

[00:17:26]She designed a children’s room for the House am Horn, at a time when such rooms did not really exist.

[00:17:37]Mother created everything from the carpet to the ceiling light, all the furniture, all the toys, all of it on her own and as a result she achieved a certain status.

[00:17:50]Alma Buscher's multifunctional furniture came at the right time and was well received.

[00:17:57]Her prototypes of furniture for the masses were in keeping with Gropius' vision of industrial production.

[00:18:07]The large-scale exhibition of 1923 presented Bauhaus to the public for the first time.

[00:18:15]With the controversial art school under considerable scrutiny, the showcase had to succeed.

[00:18:28]When the Bauhaus masters discussed what the core idea behind the 1923 exhibition could be, they came up with the slogan Art and Technology – A New Unity, and that was the major turning point for Bauhaus.

[00:18:44]The world came to Weimar to see what was happening, what was being built, and what objects this scandalous Bauhaus was producing.

[00:18:56]The centerpiece of the exhibition was the House am Horn in Weimar, a revolutionary precursor to modern living.

[00:19:04]The school’s different workshops came together for the design and layout of the showcase, with the participation of many women.

[00:19:12]The exhibition was popular, but it was Alma Buscher's furniture that attracted the most attention.

[00:19:19]It was a personal success, one that made her a household name, far beyond the Bauhaus and the city of Weimar.

[00:19:29]People everywhere wanted to see Alma Buscher's furniture, she was invited to exhibit, articles were written about her, it was a big sensation.

[00:19:37]But Walter Gropius didn't like it at all that she was so successful, because he was afraid that the Bauhaus would now be subsumed under children's furniture and toys.

[00:19:49]The exhibition raised the Bauhaus profile beyond the German borders, attracting even more female artists — like Marianne Brandt.

[00:19:59]The Chemnitz native was already an established painter when she came to the Bauhaus school.

[00:20:05]But being confronted with a radically new perspective on art made Brandt question all her previous work.

[00:20:16]In 1923, she saw the state Bauhaus exhibition, and I think for her it was a positive shock, so much so that she decided not to paint anymore.

[00:20:31]She was so deeply impressed that with the start of her studies she burnt everything she had created up till that point because she wanted a fresh start.

[00:20:43]With great enthusiasm, Brandt switched to design and encouraged by master teacher Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, she joined the metal workshop.

[00:20:50]Brandt was the only woman, and her male classmates made their disapproval clear.

[00:20:57]I was not warmly welcomed.

[00:20:59]The overriding opinion was that women do not belong in the metal workshop.

[00:21:03]They let their opinion be known by assigning me the most tedious and boring tasks.

[00:21:13]They deliberately tried to demoralize her in the metal workshop.

[00:21:18]She put up with it because Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, the master teacher, supported her, he wanted her to succeed.

[00:21:25]And she did succeed.

[00:21:27]The metal artist soon became one of the most successful designers at the school.

[00:21:32]Her iconic designs were simple and elegant and always in keeping with the principles of the Bauhaus.

[00:21:47]In 1924, conservative forces awakened throughout Germany, and in Thuringia, the Bauhaus-friendly Social Democrats were voted out, and the school budget cut.

[00:21:59]Hostilities increased, and the Bauhaus school became a political pawn.

[00:22:05]The school was on the verge of closure when Gropius received a lucrative offer from the city of Dessau.

[00:22:11]In 1925, the Bauhaus moved.

[00:22:19]Dessau was not picturesque, but as an up-and-coming industrial city, it did offer new economic prospects.

[00:22:27]For the new location, Gropius built residential buildings for the master craftsmen and a sensational new school building made of steel and glass.

[00:22:38]A radiant manifesto of modernism.

[00:22:41]But, the now more sober course, geared towards mass production, no longer appealed to everyone and many left the school.

[00:22:49]For the first time, the women were clearly outnumbered.

[00:22:59]In Dessau, Gropius specially designed a wing where you could sleep and create art.

[00:23:04]It was a very open way of life.

[00:23:06]So, you cooked together, ate together, helped each other out; some were students from very far away and that was important for the whole atmosphere, which was very international.

[00:23:23]Students from all over Europe, from the USA, and even Japan came to study at the visionary school, creating a diverse community that wanted to reshape not only their environment, but the whole world.

[00:23:36]The Bauhaus was entering a new era.

[00:23:39]New ideas require new forms and that means new designs.

[00:23:43]New workshops were created, the soon-to-be-famous architecture workshop, set up in 1927.

[00:23:54]Bauhaus students were offered collaborations with industry, and women, too, seized the opportunities.

[00:24:01]It was during this time that Gunta Stölzl achieved what no other Bauhaus woman did.

[00:24:08]The 30-year-old became the first female teacher to head the weaving department, making her the only woman among the Bauhaus masters.

[00:24:16]She crossed out the word "student " on her university ID card and replaced it with "master.

[00:24:22]" But the idea for her appointment as workshop master did not come from the master council.

[00:24:35]It was a revolution from below, a revolution of the female weavers.

[00:24:39]They demanded from the master council that Stölzl be made head of the weaving department.

[00:24:45]The masters were horrified by the demands made by the female weavers.

[00:24:49]But they gave in.

[00:24:52]The revolt really came from all the students at the Bauhaus, both men and women supported creating a position for Gunta Stölzl, and that’s what happened.

[00:25:07]She was very popular in the weaving department and was sometimes called the "Weaving Mama, " and quite simply she had the qualities needed to be the leader of a group.

[00:25:19]I really enjoy having responsibility.

[00:25:24]I now feel that I cannot separate my life and personal destiny from the Bauhaus, and that is a great source of strength.

[00:25:32]Gunta Stölzl's workshop handled large commissions and presented at trade fairs.

[00:25:42]Her work was formative for modern textile design and is inextricably linked to the Bauhaus.

[00:25:52]However, Stölzl remained legally and financially worse off than her male colleagues.

[00:26:00]But she fought back.

[00:26:03]She wrote two letters the same day.

[00:26:05]In one was the resignation: I'm leaving.

[00:26:09]And in the other letter she wrote, if you hire me under the same conditions as the male colleagues, I’ll stay.

[00:26:16]There were always delays, so she was always worse off than the men, had no pension benefits, and always short-term contracts.

[00:26:29]This is one of the few written acts of emancipation, where you can see that she stood up for herself.

[00:26:37]At that time, being discriminated against as a woman was the normal state of affairs.

[00:26:42]Gunta Stölzl was determined, and her request for better financial conditions was honored a year later, but she never got permanent employment.

[00:26:58]It was in Dessau that the Bauhaus had its heyday, presenting itself to the world with first-class advertising photos.

[00:27:06]And it was a woman who so brilliantly captured Bauhaus architecture and design.

[00:27:11]Lucia Moholy was not a Bauhaus student, but the wife of one of its masters, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

[00:27:19]She took the photos that made Bauhaus world-famous.

[00:27:23]But throughout her life, Lucia remained in the shadow of her famous husband.

[00:27:32]When Lucia Schulz met Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, she was older and more established than the young Hungarian artist, who was making a name for himself in Central Europe.

[00:27:45]During the beginning of their partnership, she provided the financial support for the couple.

[00:27:56]Lucia Moholy's photographs are characterized by a precise, penetrating objectivity.

[00:28:02]As a trained photographer, she not only shared her knowledge with her husband but also took on his darkroom work.

[00:28:09]Using her publishing experience, Lucia put her husband’s ideas into writing for numerous Bauhaus publications, without ever being credited.

[00:28:18]Joint experiments using a photogram were also attributed solely to Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

[00:28:26]I believe her first photography school was probably Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

[00:28:31]She was actually the photographer of the family, but he got all the credit.

[00:28:40]She photographed all the objects from the Bauhaus for their sample catalogues, without getting any official recognition.

[00:28:48]She was also ad woman; so she worked on the Bauhaus’s advertisements.

[00:28:58]Decades later, Lucia Moholy sharply criticized the hero worship of the masters at the Bauhaus, as well as the lack of recognition for the women who worked alongside their famous husbands.

[00:29:11]It would not be absurd to write about the role of the Bauhaus masters' wives, who had no official status yet played a decisive role in the history of the Bauhaus.

[00:29:20]Too much has been written about the masters themselves; there is no need to mention them further.

[00:29:27]The tragedy of Lucia Moholy was that, while everyone agreed on the importance of her work, she received very little recognition for it.

[00:29:37]We owe it to Lucia Moholy that the Bauhaus has a face today; with her photographs, she defined an image of the Bauhaus that is still valid.

[00:29:45]Other individuals, such as Ise Gropius, have done this through their diary entries; Moholy did it through her very precise, very detailed photos.

[00:29:58]During Lucia Moholy’s escape into exile she had to leave behind more than 500 glass negatives, her entire artistic capital.

[00:30:07]Decades later, she would see in publications the photographs she thought had been lost, and engage in a tough legal battle for copyright.

[00:30:17]Meanwhile, the tenacious Marianne Brandt achieved some success at the Bauhaus in Dessau, finally securing a paid position.

[00:30:25]Her job was to negotiate the school’s contracts with industry, contributing significantly to the school's economic success.

[00:30:41]During those years, Brandt devoted herself increasingly to photography.

[00:30:47]She photographed herself, played with gender roles, and created profound photomontages that reflected her unique view of the world.

[00:31:00]Many of Marianne Brandt's photomontages revolved around the ‘new woman.’ You really got a 1920s feeling from these images because the women wore fashionable clothes, they were doing things, the images really conveyed the spirit of the time.

[00:31:20]In contrast, the men were often portrayed as wearers of uniforms.

[00:31:24]They were dressed very formally, with rigid personalities, perhaps representing an outdated worldview.

[00:31:32]Brandt's thoughtful outlook showed a society lurching towards a new war, a premonition that would become a grim reality in just a few years.

[00:31:55]The close collaborative work at the Bauhaus gave rise to increasingly more complex relationships, leading to conflicts, especially for the women.

[00:32:05]In 1926, Alma Buscher, who’d already made a name for herself in Weimar with her furniture designs, married Bauhaus actor Werner Siedhoff.

[00:32:14]That same year, Alma gave birth to a son, Joost.

[00:32:18]Despite being a new mother, Buscher continued with her work.

[00:32:22]But she was marginalized at the Bauhaus.

[00:32:24]Joost Siedhoff, Alma Buscher’s Son. The superiors couldn't stand it when Bauhaus women had children.

[00:32:34]The young mother worked tirelessly on her new designs.

[00:32:37]Inspired by progressive education ideas, she created children’s toys that tapped into one of the favorite themes of Modernism.

[00:32:45]Her toys went into series production, with great success.

[00:32:48]Joost Siedhoff, Alma Buscher’s Son The construction toy was a hit at the Bauhaus workshops, but the Bauhaus string dolls sold the best.

[00:33:04]They said something about Alma's mentality.

[00:33:09]She said children must have freedom, and they usually fell into some picturesque poses.

[00:33:16]Despite high demand for Buscher's products, Gropius did not let her have her own studio.

[00:33:28]When production delays occurred, he explained to Buscher in a friendly but unambiguous letter that her work at the Bauhaus was their last priority.

[00:33:37]Joost Siedhoff, Alma Buscher’s Son This sentence from Gropius, that her work for Bauhaus’ overall production was merely ‘peripheral, ’ was an absolute faux pas.

[00:33:56]Walter Gropius had never said anything like that so clearly before.

[00:34:02]It was incredibly painful for her.

[00:34:04]Buscher was relatively delicate as an artist and she was also the mother of two children.

[00:34:11]People at the Bauhaus just couldn't imagine that a career would come out of it and they didn't support it from the start.

[00:34:18]Perhaps because it was still too early for such things.

[00:34:21]Joost Siedhoff, Alma Buscher’s Son The main thing that defined her life was her artistic success at the Bauhaus and after that happened came a great emptiness.

[00:34:42]That ultimately diminished her enjoyment of life.

[00:34:48]She went from being a celebrated Bauhaus artist, to suddenly being the wife of a provincial actor.

[00:35:00]Alma Buscher left the Bauhaus in 1927.

[00:35:04]She never designed furniture or toys again.

[00:35:08]Many of the women artists who started a family experienced a similar fate, and they often had very modern ideas about work and family life.

[00:35:16]Gertrud Arndt came to the Bauhaus in 1923 with dreams of becoming an architect.

[00:35:28]She too reluctantly ended up in the weaving workshop.

[00:35:32]When she married the Bauhaus architect Alfred Arndt in 1928, she drew up her own marriage contract in which she demanded complete equality between the spouses — a wish that would not be fulfilled.

[00:35:45]Whereas Arndt’s husband was appointed a master of Bauhaus, Gertrud found few prospects in Dessau.

[00:35:52]She turned her talents to photography, creating private and avant-garde photographs that would go down in art history.

[00:35:59]– 36:18 She made a series of mask photos, self-portraits of her in disguise, which today are considered classics of Bauhaus photography.

[00:36:10]They had nothing to do with Bauhaus teachings but ultimately came out of her boredom in the provinces.

[00:36:25]You could see her as a precursor to Cindy Sherman, experimenting with different roles and asking, who else can I be, who am I with a veil, with or without a wig, if I dress differently, what type of woman can I be?

[00:36:41]In her series of self-portraits, Gertrud Arndt flirted with roles, becoming a nun, vamp, and Grande Dame.

[00:36:49]The opposite of her real life as a wife and mother of two.

[00:37:00]Only Gunta Stölzl succeeded in combining work and family life at the Bauhaus, but at a very high price.

[00:37:12]She got married, and there was still the expectation that when a woman married, she would leave the Bauhaus.

[00:37:18]Gunta Stölzl didn't consider that an option.

[00:37:21]She was a modern woman who wanted to combine work and a family.

[00:37:27]She was attacked for her lifestyle, for the fact that she had lived with Sharon, a Jew, got pregnant before she was married, and for her leftist sympathies.

[00:37:37]My mother found a swastika on her door.

[00:37:40]And she decided it was a hopeless fight, one she couldn't win.

[00:37:54]Gunta Stölzl saw a power struggle behind the accusations, but also blatant anti-Semitism, and she handed in her notice.

[00:38:05]In 1931, she left the Bauhaus for good and emigrated to Switzerland.

[00:38:14]It was the 1930s, and dark years were to follow for everyone.

[00:38:21]The Bauhaus was expelled from Dessau and moved to Berlin, where only about a fifth of the students were women.

[00:38:27]In 1933, the art school was dissolved, and many Bauhaus members received professional bans.

[00:38:34]Bauhaus art was considered taboo.

[00:38:40]The Nazi exhibition Degenerate Art in 1937 showed numerous works by Bauhaus artists.

[00:38:47]For most of the artists, working became impossible.

[00:38:51]Those who could, escaped into exile.

[00:38:54]Nazi Germany raged on.

[00:39:01]The successful designer Friedl Dicker, as a Jew in Vienna, also felt the effects of the political upheaval.

[00:39:08]After several imprisonments, she managed to escape to Prague, where she married her new love, Pavel Brandeis, who was also Jewish.

[00:39:16]The couple were deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

[00:39:20]Even there, Friedl Dicker remained true to art, secretly giving drawing and painting lessons to interned children.

[00:39:28]After the camp was liberated, thousands of these children's drawings were found.

[00:39:39]Through art, Friedel Dicker tried to open a beautiful window for her pupils.

[00:39:44]She didn't want them to work through what they were going through, but to think of a beautiful future, or simply look at the stars and know that there is another world outside and that life really does go on.

[00:39:56]Her drawing lessons made a great impression on the children.

[00:40:03]Even under these terrible living conditions, the lessons gave them room to breathe, allowing them to work with colors, their designs, and their imagination.

[00:40:22]Even under the worst possible conditions, Friedl Dicker worked on art education texts.

[00:40:29]Children should be trusted unconditionally.

[00:40:31]If we want to do the best for them, we should give them material and encourage them to start working.

[00:40:36]At this stage, all our aesthetic judgements are meaningless.

[00:40:39]What makes it particularly extraordinary is that these pictures are preserved because she hid these children's works.

[00:40:47]So today, we can still see how intensively she processed, internalized, and passed on Bauhaus pedagogy.

[00:40:56]For two years, Friedl Dicker worked with the children in Theresienstadt.

[00:41:01]She staged plays with them, and imparted hope and dignity in a place otherwise devoid of humanity.

[00:41:07]Most of the children did not survive.

[00:41:10]When her husband was to be transported to Auschwitz, Friedl Dicker joined a list of volunteers so as not to lose him.

[00:41:18]In October 1944, her train left Theresienstadt.

[00:41:23]A day after she arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Friedl Dicker, at the age of 46, was gassed.

[00:41:31]Her husband survived Auschwitz.

[00:41:33]Forty-five-year-old Alma Buscher was killed in 1944 in a bombing raid near Frankfurt am Main.

[00:41:44]Her children's toys are still being produced today.

[00:41:48]Gunta Stölzl never returned to Germany.

[00:41:56]Even in old age, she ran a hand-weaving studio in Switzerland.

[00:42:00]She died in 1983 at the age of 86.

[00:42:06]Marianne Brandt went into internal exile during the war and withdrew to her hometown of Chemnitz.

[00:42:13]During the GDR era, her artistic visions were submerged in the standardized style of socialist industrial design.

[00:42:20]In 1983, unnoticed, she died at the age of 89.

[00:42:27]The Jewish communist Lucia Moholy fled from the Nazis to England.

[00:42:31]Twenty-five years later, she engaged in a bitter legal battle with Walter Gropius over her abandoned negatives.

[00:42:40]The lack of recognition for her work would never leave her.

[00:42:43]In 1989, she died at the age of 95 in Zurich.

[00:42:52]Most of the Bauhaus women did not live to see the late recognition of their work.

[00:42:57]But with their courage, creativity, and progressive thinking, they have left a lasting legacy and are still a great inspiration today, a century later.